Running head: FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY

Family Health History

Christine Dominguez
King University

Family Health History

Jennifer Rodriguez is a 49 year old Caucasian American named Jennifer, who is a BSN in
the Center for Cancer Support at CHI Memorial in Chattanooga, TN. She is divorced from Brian
Pataneau, 54, a medical technologist, who is the father of their two children. Her daughter
Amanda Pataneau, 26, is unmarried, and a middle school educator for Girls, Inc. Her second
daughter, Anna Pataneau, 18, is a single student at UTC, majoring in graphic design.
Jennifers family, The Koches, consist of brother Alan, 48, who has his PhD in
mathematics and teaches at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia. Jennifers mother, Alice,
75, is a retired RN. Alice has two brothers, Kenneth and John. Kenneth, 70, is a retired special
forces police detective. He is married with one daughter, Laura, 45, who was unable to conceive.

Alices second brother John,72, is a retired police commissioner for Suffolk County, NY. He is
married with one biological son Kevin, 49, who has twin boys, a son and daughter. John has an
adopted daughter, Leiann. Jennifers father Alan, 73, is a retired computer operator and model
train shop owner. He is an only child.
Jennifers maternal grandmother, Florence is deceased at the age of 80, her grandfather
died in 1949. Her paternal grandmother, Alberta, died at age 94 from Alzheimers dementia.
Alberta had one sister, Georgia who is still living at the age of 98. Her paternal grandfather,
Christian, died at age 84 from the complications of Alzheimers dementia.
The Family Story
Jennifers parents and grandparents are from New York City and Long Island. Her
maternal grandparents lived in Brooklyn, NY, raising Alice, John and Kenneth. Alice lived on
roller skates and would skate to the Brooklyn Dodgers games with her father. Her father died
from what she described as severe liver injury from exposure to work place inhalants. Her
mother was nine years old when her father died. Alices maternal grandmother, Florence, was an
LPN, raising three children, remarrying twice after being widowed on two separate occasions.
Her paternal grandmother, Alberta, had only one child. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in
her late 30s, and underwent a bilateral mastectomy, although the underlying pathology is unclear
as she never received chemotherapy or radiation. She had her first MI in her 40s and suffered
with angina, coronary artery disease, and underwent a CABG in her 70s. She developed
progressive dementia, and died at 94 from complications of Alzheimers disease. She worked
secretarial jobs, and was a meticulous homemaker and seamstress. Her paternal grandfather,
Christian, worked in the slate industry and created homemade furniture. His parents were
immigrants from Germany, and came to America through Ellis Island. Christian died at age 84,

FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY

experiencing aortic valve disease and eventual Alzheimers dementia and hypoxic brain injury
sustained from the heart surgery.
Jennifer and her brother, Alan were born on Long Island, NY. Their parents moved to
Vermont in 1969, when they were small children, to raise them in an area they felt was more
family friendly. Her mother, Alice, worked night shift at the hospital as an RN, and her father,
Alan Sr, worked at a local bank doing early computer entry payroll on the evening shift. Alice
had graduated from a diploma RN program at Bellevue Hospital, graduating in 1963 from
nursing school. Alan, Sr. obtained his Associates degree in business from a local private college.
They raised their family in shifts, trying to provide for their basic necessities, and minimize child
care by working off schedules. Both parents smoked cigarettes in the family home, smoking 1-2
packs/day for more than 40 years. Her parents raised their family in a Christian home,
occasionally attending a local Methodist church.
Jennifer married at the age of 22, after graduating from an Associates degree RN
program at a local state college. She married Brian Pataneau, and they had their first child,
Amanda, at the age of 24, while her Brian was in the active military, on an Air Force base in
Portsmouth, NH. Her second child, Anna, was born eight years later, in their home city of
Burlington, VT. The family moved from Vermont, to Southeast Georgia for a job opportunity and
a better lifestyle in 2004. Jennifer and her husband, Brian maintained good health. They raised
their children in Christian private school during their grade school years, transitioning them both
to a public high school. Brian went to college after leaving the air force, and obtained his
Bachelors in Science in Medical Technology. Brian and Jennifer divorced in 2010, and Jennifer
married her second husband Paul on May 4, 2012.

FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY

Jennifer moved to Chattanooga, TN in September, 2011, with both of her children,

Amanda enrolling at UTC, and Anna starting her Sophomore year of high school. Her husband
Pauls parents were born in Mexico, and became citizens of the United States before he was
born. His mother and father both flooded their home with traditional Hispanic culture and food,
and he has shares that culture with his new family. Paul has one son, who is a Junior at Georgia
Tech, majoring in mechanical engineering.
Family Life Stage
Jennifer has most recently entered the life stage of discovering a life with grown,
independent children. Her youngest child Anna has started college and has moved out of the
family home, her oldest has been living independently for the past two years. Jennifer is in a
relatively new second marriage with Paul, and he is eleven years older than her, with the
comorbidities of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and acid reflux disease. She and her
husband are learning and adapting to new roles as husband and wife, as a couple, and without
children in the home. Her husband is in excellent functional health, working long hours in the
restaurant and bar industry. Both of his parents are deceased, as he was the youngest of several
children by more than a decade. Jennifers parents are suffering multiple health issues, but live in
Vermont, so they are not close enough geographically to see them often. They stay in close
contact by phone, and Jennifer keeps up with their medical issues. At this time her parents are
able to live independently in their home. Her daughters Amanda and Anna share an apartment
together, and although they dont live with Jennifer, they continue to rely on her for guidance,
financial assistance, and leadership. Jennifer could benefit from teaching around her husbands
health conditions, as well as dietary and exercise programs, as both she and Paul work long
hours, and often need to eat out. She also is dealing with multiple role changes, as her adult

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children are trying to find their own way, and she and her husband are entering a new stage in
their marriage.
Health Promotion/Illness Prevention
Jennifer has a strong family history of heart disease, as her mother developed angina and
required cardiac stents at the age of 55, and her paternal grandmother had her first MI in her midforties. Her mother also suffers from pulmonary hypertension, COPD, and right sided heart
failure. Although they were both smokers, and had controllable risk factors, such as lack of
formal exercise, obesity, and poor dietary habits, the fact that they developed these diseases
before the age of 60 is significant. As Jennifer is overweight with a BMI of 29.2, suggesting the
DASH diet, which decreases sodium, and calories, as well as increased potassium to help remove
sodium from the body, would be a helpful focus on wellness, and the avoidance of heart disease
in the future (National Institutes of Health, n.d.). With her long work hours, and decreased time
for regular exercise, setting up a program that provides a scheduled routine for exercise for stress
management as well as for heart health is important.
Due to Jennifers exposure to second hand smoke (SHS), both in utero, and through her
entire childhood in the family home, there is a possibility of delayed development of respiratory
disease, alterations in tissue formation that increases susceptibility to future health issues,
changes in organ formation and in the immune response (The Health Consequences, 2006). It is
important to educate her about her continued abstention of tobacco products, as she may likely
be at higher risk of developing complications and chronic diseases, based on her previous
exposure.
Both of Jennifers parents are and were obese through most of their adult life, and this
increases Jennifers risk of moving from overweight to obese in the future, as lifestyles tend to

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get more sedentary, and diets do not change with the decreased energy demand. Adhering to a
DASH diet, as well as looking at overall increase in fiber, fruit and vegetable intake, decreased
added sugar and salt , as well as exercise and stress management is the key.

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7
References

National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/dash

The health consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke: A report of the surgeon
general [Fact Sheet]. (2006). Retrieved from Office of Smoking and Health:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44318/